Lawmakers to attend APPU meeting in Japan

EXCHANGING VIEWS:：The event will this year revolve around the theme of climate change and will be attended by lawmakers from across party lines

By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter

Mon, Mar 25, 2013 - Page 3

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday led a group of lawmakers from across party lines to the 44th annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Union (APPU) to be held in Japan today.

Wang is scheduled to meet with Japanese Minister of the Environment Nobuteru Ishihara, Japanese Minister of State for Disaster Management Keiji Furuya, secretary-general of the Liberty Democratic Party Shigeru Ishiba and Democratic Party of Japan president Banri Kaieda, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), who heads a Taiwan-Japan parliamentary friendship group.

Taiwan is one of the initiators of the parliamentary union, which was established in 1965 in Tokyo, and is now headed by Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is also finance minister.

Lee added that Wang wished to have a meeting with Aso, but this had not yet been arranged.

The three-day event will revolve around the theme of climate change.

Lee said the meeting has served as an important forum for the nations’ lawmakers to exchange views on issues of global concern with their counterparts from other nations in the region, which helps Taiwan increase its international exposure and cooperation.